Gov. David Paterson just announced that 43 counties will receive a total of $3.6 million in grants to study how they can reduce local government costs "by making property tax assessment and collection more efficient."

That's about $50,000 for each county to "study collaborative approaches to local assessing," according to a release from the governor's office. "The grant program provides county and municipal officials the opportunity to determine what assessing structure will lead to uniform improved performance for their taxpayers."

The release says that "there are 1,128 different government entities providing assessments for taxpayers [in the state], compared to a national median of 85. In addition, New York is one of only three states that lacks statewide uniform assessment standards."

But if balkanization is the problem, why doesn't the state come up with some uniform standards? Giving counties money to "study" their procedures only perpetuates this fractured system. Especially when the governor's release also says that "the [state] property tax system is notoriously complex and difficult for taxpayers to understand."

Not that we trust the New York state Legislature to sort this all out and oversee it, but it does sound like a little direction from above, a little consolidation of effort, is called for, rather than letting counties keep rolling along on their own, with $50K newly stuffed in their pockets, no less.

As a 2006 report from the state comptroller's office put it, "in many areas properties with similar market values may have very different assessments and tax bills. This can lead to dissatisfaction and challenges to assessments that have a significant impact on the property tax base."

Better yet, why not just distribute that $3.6 million in the form of rebates to property owners? Every little bit counts.